The Crown of the Continent - Glacier National Park, 6.30.22 - 7.8.22, Part 1 of 3
When planning an itinerary for a trip, we are well aware that flexibility and patience are essential ingredients to the overall success. Our recent visit to Glacier National Park was a prime example of that. This would be our first visit to Glacier, long overdue and we were really looking forward to seeing as much as we could.
Glacier was ranked the tenth most visited national park in 2021 and securing campsites in any national park can be quite a challenge. Knowing relatively little about the park, our first goal was simply to get a camping reservation. In January we booked six nights at campground just outside of the west side of the park just to get our foot in the door. As I began my research I realized that I really needed to also position ourselves on the east side of the park to have easier access to sunrise photography locations so we booked three nights at a campground in St Mary for three nights, cancelling three of the nights on the west side. On the west side of the park is Apgar Campground which is the largest campground in the park. It has always been first come first serve which is a bit risky for our taste to just drive all the way over there and hope to just find a good site. But as fate would have it, Glacier announced a new experimental program for this season where sites at Apgar could be reserved. Reservations started at 7AM MST on March 3rd. We were fingers to the keyboard at the exact moment and managed to get a site so once secured we ended up cancelling our original reservation altogether. Again, gotta be flexible.
The highlight of any first time trip to Glacier would surely be to drive over the Going To The Sun Road. This is the only road that crosses the park, rising from the wooded west side up to the crest of the Continental Divide at Logan Pass before dropping down to St Mary. It is considered to be one of the most scenic drives on earth and many trails emanate from various spots along the road. I had hoped that during our stay we could leave in the middle of the night to be up at Logan Pass by sunrise for photography and to get an early start on some of the incredible hikes that start at Logan Pass. But as our departure date grew closer, it became apparent that those plans would have to change.
The Going To The Sun Road gets walloped with snowfall every winter and it takes a huge effort for snowplows to attack the accumulation from both sides until they can reopen the road. This typically happens by around the last part of June each year. Knowing that, we booked our stay starting July first. Looking back at historical records, there has only been four times ever that the road was cleared and open after July first, so we felt fairly good about our odds. As it turns out, this last winter saw a much deeper than normal snowpack. Add to that a cooler, wetter spring and the snowplows are way behind in their efforts. The day before we left it was announced that the road would not open in time for the 4th of July holiday weekend. The day after we arrived they announced that the road would not open until at least July 13th, making this the latest opening in the history of the park. So much for my big plans at Logan Pass! Since it is a two hour drive to get to the other side of the park on Highway 2, we now knew that our first three days would be spent on the west side and the last three days on the east side. Maps were studied, the internet was searched and modified plans came together.
Bridgit and I left on Thursday, June 30th. We drove about eight hours to a forest campground outside of Newport, Washington which is right near the Idaho border. It was a nice campground on the Pend Oreille River and though we had a reservation, the campground was pretty empty. We actually switched to a different site that was flatter which is better for the RV.
The Pend Oreille River from our campground near Newport
The following morning we continued east through the Idaho panhandle and into Montana. We had never driven on Highway 2 beyond Sandpoint, Idaho so the trip up to Bonner’s Ferry and down to Kalispell through the Cabinet Mountains was all new to us. From Kalispell it was a short drive through Columbia Falls to the west entrance of Glacier National Park. We were so excited to finally be there! I’ve had so many people shocked when I said I had never been to Glacier but no longer! Let the fun begin!
Before even going to our campground we stopped in at the visitor center. I had a slew of questions for the ranger because conditions were changing daily. One of the things that I was seeing leading up to the trip were numerous trail closures. Some were due to deep snow, some due to flooding but also some due to grizzly bear activity. Since much of the higher elevations of the park were still buried in snow, the grizzlies were down lower. I had seen two of the hikes I had in mind closed for this reason but by the time we arrived they had re-opened and I wanted to confirm that status which they were. Armed with the latest information we drove into Apgar Campground and set up shop. There were no hookups for electric and water there but we are pretty self sufficient in the Navibahn so that wasn’t an issue. We loved our campsite. It was a big forested campground and there was plenty of space between each site.
B96, Apgar Campground
Once we were situated we walked about a third of a mile down to Apgar Village and got our first look at the largest lake in the park, Lake McDonald. It is ten miles long, 472’ deep and the peaks of the Continental Divide rise above the far end of the lake. There is a boat dock where they rent small motor boats, kayaks and canoes, several shops and eateries and the Village Inn which is a modest motel but every room faces the lake and is located right on the lakeshore.
Back at our site we had a glass of wine, cooked up dinner on our little Weber charcoal grill and just relaxed in the warm sunshine. It’s been miserably cold and wet in Washington so with temps in the upper 70’s we were literally happy campers.
That evening we headed back to Apgar Village to watch the sun set on Lake McDonald. There wasn’t any cloud cover so it wasn’t a dramatic sunset but the weather was great and no bugs to speak of. One of the things Lake McDonald is famous for are the multi-colored stones in the water. I was hoping for a photo of the stones with the lake and the peaks in the background but the stones didn’t seem to pop with color at that time of day and there was also a thin layer of pollen on the water so I couldn’t get the shot I was hoping for. No matter, it was a glorious evening and we were in Glacier National Park!
Beautiful Lake McDonald
Boat dock on Lake McDonald
The peaks of the Continental Divide from Lake McDonald
On the west side, the Going To The Sun Road was open for the first fourteen miles to Avalanche Creek Campground where the road was gated. At Avalanche Creek there is a trail that we had our eyes on for the following morning. Knowing the park gets really crowded we wanted to get a very early start. Once again, that was not possible during our visit. In addition to the closure gates for Logan Pass, road crews were working down lower laying new lines under the road so the road was completely closed from ten at night until six in the morning. We pulled out of camp at exactly six and there was already a solid line of cars heading up the Going To The Sun Road. We muscled our way into the traffic and slowly worked our way up along the shore of Lake McDonald past several pullouts. When we arrived at Avalanche Creek the place was a zoo. There were tons of cars pulling in everywhere. We drove in and managed to find a spot that was sort of hidden due to a car on either side with their doors open. Once we parked, we realized we were directly in front of the trailhead sign for The Trail Of The Cedars and Avalanche Lake. How convenient is that?
The Trail Of The Cedars is a short one mile loop trail. We started in a clockwise direction. I didn’t think it was anything that special but we have a lot of big tree trails in Washington. After a little less than a half mile we came to Avalanche Gorge. This was exciting for me. Back in 1978, Cat Stevens released Back To Earth, his final album before taking a long break from the mainstream music business. The cover was a photo of a beautiful creek running through a narrow cleft with lush mosses and ferns lining the banks. It spoke to the nature lover in me. I always loved that cover and wondered where it was taken. In doing my research for this trip I came across photos of Avalanche Gorge. I just knew that had to be the place and confirmed that with a bit more internet research.
Cat Stevens Back To Earth Cover
Avalanche Gorge
Just beyond Avalanche Gorge was the turnoff to Avalanche Lake. This trail had been closed due to flooding and bear activity until just a few days before we arrived. We saw evidence of trail erosion where Avalanche Creek had swelled during the heavy rains that also pounded Yellowstone but the trail was dry and easy to follow to Avalanche Lake. The lake itself was very beautiful. It was fairly large and tucked into a cirque surrounded by peaks that were part of the actual line of the Continental Divide. Huge waterfalls dropped down to the lake from high above and as the sun rose the water color turned a pea green color from glacial silt. We hiked up along the shoreline about halfway to the head of the lake before heading back down the trail to the Jeep.
Avalanche Lake
Avalanche Lake
Waterfalls at the head of Avalanche Lake
Our first hike in Glacier National Park
7,886’ Little Matterhorn
Looking back down lake with 8,417’ McPartland Mountain on the left
Now then, about the Avalanche Lake hike. I knew that because the Going To The Sun Road was closed that there were fewer options for things to do, but I have never in my life seen a trail so crowded. There was a non-stop solid line of people going up as we were coming down. You’ve seen those photos of the climbers lined up to summit Everest? It was almost like that. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating just a tad for effect, but it was insane how many people were heading up that trail. It didn’t bother me because I pretty much expected that but I sure wouldn’t choose this hike if there were quieter options. Wow!
After a lunch break back at camp we drove around the bottom of Lake McDonald and up Camas Road past Fish Creek Campground to the Rocky Point trailhead. This was also a short, easy trail that led to a rock outcropping overlooking Lake McDonald. It had an even better view than from the boat docks at Apgar Village and hardly any people which was nice.
One other thing about hiking anywhere in Glacier. There seem to be a lot of bears around, both black bears and grizzly bears. I think every single trailhead has warning signs about hiking in bear territory. We carried bear spray at all times on our hikes. There was even a bear roaming around in the Apgar Campground although we never saw it.
Typical Bear warning sign found at all trailheads
Me, preparing to enter grizzly country
Lake McDonald from Rocky Point
The Continental Divide from Rocky Point
Peaks of the Continental Divide from Rocky Point
My Huckleberry Honey
On our third and final day on the west side of Glacier National Park, it started raining early in the morning. With nothing better to do, we decided to take a drive up into the northwest part of the park to Polebridge. The road runs along the North Fork of the Flathead River. Despite the rain, we figured we might see some wildlife. Getting up early and driving around looking for wildlife has become one of our favorite things to do while on trips. Around dawn and dusk is when animals are typically more active and there are far fewer people at those times out on the road. On this trip up to Polebridge we didn’t see any wildlife but it was a very quiet road. We hardly saw any cars, probably due to the rain and it was just nice to get out and take a drive. In Polebridge there is a mercantile famous for huckleberry bear claws. I didn’t think they were all that special but it went down good with a hot cup of coffee. After returning the rain had let up so we drove back up along Lake McDonald, stopping at the various turnouts just to see what there was to see. Mostly we were driving along McDonald Creek which had some nice falls and the river was running strong from all the recent rains.
So that pretty much did it for our three days on the west side. The morning of July 4th we would leave for the second leg of our trip to Glacier. That will be coming in the next part of the story…